2008 Toronto Argonauts season
The 2008 Toronto Argonauts season was the 51st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and 136th season overall. The Argonauts attempted to win their 16th Grey Cup, but they failed to make the playoffs ending the season on a nine-game losing streak.
| 2008 Toronto Argonauts season | |
|---|---|
| General manager | Adam Rita |
| Head coach | Rich Stubler (to Sept. 9) Don Matthews (Sept. 9 to Oct. 31) |
| Home field | Rogers Centre |
| Results | |
| Record | 4–14 |
| Division place | 3rd, East |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
| Uniform | |
 | |
Offseason
CFL draft
In the 2008 CFL Draft, 48 players were chosen from among 752 eligible players[1] from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The first two rounds were broadcast on TSN.ca with host Rod Black.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 13 | Mike Bradwell | WR | McMaster |
| 3 | 21 | Jean-Nicolas Carriere | LB | McGill |
| 4 | 29 | Delroy Clarke | DB | Ottawa |
| 5 | 37 | Richard Zulys | OL | Western Ontario |
| 6 | 42 (via Edmonton) | Mark Dewit | OL | Calgary |
| 6 | 44 (via Montreal) | Tyler Scott | REC | Western Ontario |
| 6 | 45 | Matt Black | DB | Saginaw Valley |
Notable transactions
| Date | Type | Incoming | Outgoing | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 5, 2008 | Trade |
|
|
Saskatchewan Roughriders |
- The Toronto Argonauts signed former National Football League receiver/kick-returner Bethel Johnson on May 26. Johnson is a two-time Super Bowl champion, who posted a league-best 28.2-yard kickoff return average as a rookie in 2003 with the New England Patriots. Johnson signed with the Argos on Monday, May 26.[3]
- Damon Allen, 44, announced his retirement from the CFL on May 28. Allen had maintained during the offseason that he intended to attend training camp and compete for the starter's job. Allen would have gone into camp third on the depth chart behind newly acquired Kerry Joseph and veteran Michael Bishop, both of whom signed new deals with the Argos in the off-season.
- Allen retires as pro football's career passing leader with 72,381 yards. He played on four Grey Cup-winning teams and in 2005, he captured the league's outstanding player award.[4]
- June 5, 2008: The Argos acquired running back Jamal Robertson from the Saskatchewan Roughriders for Canadian cornerback Leron Mitchell. He was a former University of Western Ontario Mustangs star who this off-season had a workout with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.[5]
Rosters
Preseason roster
As of June 10, 2008
End of season roster
Schedule
Preseason
| Week | Date | Opponent | Location | Final score | Attendance | Record |
| A | June 12 | @ Alouettes | Molson Stadium | T 34 – 34 | 20,202 | 0–0–1 |
| B | June 19 | Tiger-Cats | Rogers Centre | L 28 – 21 | 21,422 | 0–1–1 |
Regular season
| Week | Date | Opponent | Location | Final score | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | June 27 | @ Blue Bombers | Canad Inns Stadium | W 23 – 16 | 26,155 | 1–0 |
| 2 | July 3 | Tiger-Cats | Rogers Centre | L 32 – 13 | 30,822 | 1–1 |
| 3 | July 10 | @ Eskimos | Commonwealth Stadium | L 47 – 28 | 31,707 | 1–2 |
| 4 | July 20 | Eskimos | Rogers Centre | W 35 – 31 | 28,522 | 2–2 |
| 5 | July 27 | @ Roughriders | Mosaic Stadium | L 28 – 22 | 28,800 | 2–3 |
| 6 | August 1 | Blue Bombers | Rogers Centre | W 19 – 11 | 28,523 | 3–3 |
| 7 | August 7 | @ Tiger-Cats | Ivor Wynne Stadium | L 45 – 21 | 19,423 | 3–4 |
| 8 | August 15 | Alouettes | Rogers Centre | L 32 – 14 | 30,521 | 3–5 |
| 9 | Bye | |||||
| 10 | September 1 | @ Tiger-Cats | Ivor Wynne Stadium | W 34 – 31 | 25,911 | 4–5 |
| 11 | September 7 | @ Alouettes | Molson Stadium | L 45 – 19 | 20,202 | 4–6 |
| 12 | September 12 | Blue Bombers | Rogers Centre | L 39 – 9 | 28,453 | 4–7 |
| 13 | September 20 | @ Stampeders | McMahon Stadium | L 34 – 4 | 33,135 | 4–8 |
| 14 | September 27 | Stampeders | Rogers Centre | L 44 – 16 | 28,672 | 4–9 |
| 15 | October 3 | Lions | Rogers Centre | L 24 – 20 | 28,273 | 4–10 |
| 16 | October 10 | @ Blue Bombers | Canad Inns Stadium | L 25 – 16 | 27,268 | 4–11 |
| 17 | October 18 | Alouettes | Rogers Centre | L 43 – 34 | 30,262 | 4–12 |
| 18 | October 25 | @ Lions | BC Place Stadium | L 55 – 32 | 35,994 | 4–13 |
| 19 | October 30 | Roughriders | Rogers Centre | L 45 – 38 | 28,654 | 4–14 |
Regular season
Toronto started the season off well, winning against the Blue Bombers 23–16, but after that they compiled a 2–5 record the next 7 games. After the Bye week, everything went downhill, they won only one game and lost 9 start to finish the season 4–14 and missed the playoffs.
A raucous Labour Day crowd of 25,911 at Ivor Wynne Stadium witnessed a game that ended with a 34–31 Argo victory, the team's first win against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the season. Argo head coach Rich Stubler's job was rumoured to be on the line.[7] Argos receiver Arland Bruce III found time for a little theatrics, celebrating an 11-yard TD catch by donning a Spider-Man mask produced from his pants.[7] Several days later, the Canadian Football League fined the Argonauts receiver an undisclosed amount for his touchdown celebration.[8] Game officials had handed Bruce an objectionable conduct penalty after the incident. Bruce went on to have his best game of the season, catching 10 passes for a game-high 149 yards.[8]
On September 9, Stubler was released as head coach of the Argonauts after posting a 4–6 record. There was the belief he could not get along with those he worked with.[9] The Argos hired Don Matthews, the head coach with the most wins in CFL history and head coach during Toronto's back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 1996 and 1997, to return to the club as head coach for the third time in his coaching career.[10]
During the team's next game on September 12 at Rogers Centre, Winnipeg Blue Bombers slotback Milt Stegall became the most prolific receiver in the history of the CFL.[11] The slotback caught a 92-yard pass at 9:02 in the second quarter to raise his career total to 14,983, breaking the mark of 14,891 yards previously held by former Stampeders receiver Allen Pitts.[11] Stegall took a pass from Kevin Glenn and scored a touchdown, his second of the game. It put the Bombers ahead 28–3.[11]
On October 31, Matthews resigned from the Argonauts a day after the conclusion of the Argonauts 2008 regular season, which saw the Argos fail to win a game in the eight games under his leadership and finishing out of the playoffs for the first time since the 2001 CFL season.[12]
Season standings
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 610 | 443 | 22 | Details |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 435 | 490 | 16 | Details |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 397 | 627 | 8 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 441 | 593 | 6 | Details |
Statistics
Passing
| Player | Att | Comp | % | Yards | TD | INT | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kerry Joseph | 536 | 307 | 57.3 | 4174 | 17 | 14 | 82.0 |
| Cody Pickett | 104 | 63 | 60.6 | 610 | 1 | 2 | 72.2 |
| Reggie McNeal | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yards | Avg, | TD | Fumbles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamal Robertson | 117 | 645 | 5.5 | 6 | 2 |
| Kerry Joseph | 78 | 493 | 6.3 | 4 | 7 |
| Dominique Dorsey | 64 | 41 0 | 6.4 | 2 | 2 |
| Jeff Johnson | 8 | 31 | 3.9 | 1 | 0 |
Receiving
| Player | Receptions | Yards | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arland Bruce | 92 | 1210 | 9 |
| Andre Talbot | 76 | 915 | 4 |
| Reggie McNeal | 43 | 606 | 2 |
| P. K. Sam | 36 | 499 | 3 |
| James Robinson | 25 | 381 | 1 |
| Tyler Scott | 19 | 309 | 0 |
| Dominique Dorsey | 15 | 286 | 0 |
Postseason
The Argos finished third in the East Division with a record of 4 wins and 14 losses. The Edmonton Eskimos, who finished fourth in the West, had a better record of 10 and 8, and under the cross-over rule eliminated Toronto from the playoffs and play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East semi-final.
Awards and records
- Arland Bruce, Eastern Division All-Star, Offence[15]
- Jonathan Brown, CFL Eastern All-Star, Defence
- Dominique Dorsey, CFL Eastern All-Star, Special Teams
- John Agro Special Teams Award – Dominique Dorsey (RB), Toronto Argonauts
- Kenny Wheaton, CFL Eastern All-Star, Defence
References
- "Draft List for Year 2008" (PDF). Canadian Football League. 2008-01-28. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
- "canada.com – Page Not Found". Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-12 – via Canada.com.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - "Argonauts add former NFLer Bethel Johnson". CBC News. May 26, 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
- "(no title)". Canoe.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - "(no title)". Canoe.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - "2008 Toronto Argonauts". Retrieved 2010-11-07.
- Zelkovich, Chris (September 2, 2008). "Argos hang on to beat Ticats". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
- "Posted Sports". network.nationalpost.com.
- Simmons, Steve (2009-09-10). "Stubler just didn't fit". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- "Argos fire Stubler, bring back Matthews". CBC Sports. 2008-09-09. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- "CFL on Yahoo Canada Sports – News, Scores, Standings, Rumours, Fantasy Games". Yahoo Sports.
- "Matthews quits as Argos coach". CBC Sports. 2008-10-31. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
- "CFL.ca". Archived from the original on 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
- "2008 Receiving Statistics". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on 2008-10-10. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
- "CFL.ca - 2008 East & West Division All-Stars". Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
Further reading
- On training camp
- Zelkovich, Chris (2008-06-18). "No happy campers in Argoland". Toronto Star. Retrieved 18 June 2008.